Vaibhav Agarwal: 2016 Best and Brightest

Vaibhav Agarwal Georgetown

Vaibhav Agarwal

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

Hometown: Downingtown, Pennsylvania

High School: Downingtown East High School

Major: Finance & Accounting

Minor: Economics & French

Favorite Business Courses: Comparative Strategic Management

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

Extracurricular Activities:

  • Georgetown University Student Investment Fund (Chief Investment Officer)
  • Hilltop Consultants (Project Manager)

Honors:

  • Winner of Credit Suisse Investment Banking Case Competition
  • Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society
  • Financial Management Association Honor Society

Where have you interned during your college career?

Morgan Stanley (M&A Investment Banking Intern) – Summer 2015 (New York, NY)

  • Performed financial modeling and valuation analysis to assist in the assessment of potential mergers, acquisitions, and corporate defense situations
  • Conducted full valuation and transaction analyses including standalones, DCF, LBO, and merger models for selected merger scenarios
  • Assisted on sell-side $48 billion acquisition of Cigna by Anthem by helping perform pro-forma accretion/dilution analyses and by assessing the value of potential competitors in the managed care space

Capstone LLC (Analyst) – Oct – Dec 2014 (Washington, D.C.)

  • Conducted research for a policy analysis and regulatory due diligence firm that advises investor clients
  • Analyzed the effect of legislation, regulatory reform, and new federal oversight on the financial services, utilities, and energy sectors, with both near- and long-term impacts on investment strategies
  • Performed due diligence for private equity clients on OneMain Financial, a large installment lender

Main Line Equity Partners (Intern) – Summer 2014 (Ardmore, PA)

  • Conducted research into next-stage growth companies (with ~$10 million in revenue) and provided industry coverage for a boutique private equity firm
  • Developed and utilized detailed financial models to value potential investment opportunities

Describe your dream job: Working at the World Bank, particularly within their International Finance Corporation, where I have the opportunity to work with policy makers, academics, and world leaders in a meaningful and productive capacity by leveraging my experiences and knowledge to create social impact that helps improve the overall lives of others.

What did you enjoy most about majoring in a business-related field? It is the deep connections that I was fortunate enough to develop with my classmates and my professors. By being able to explore my intellectual curiosities at Georgetown McDonough with a class of 300 equally driven peers from diverse backgrounds, I have been able to expand and enrich my perspective while fostering life-long friendships. The McDonough School of Business program also is one of the few in which the professors and faculty are genuinely interested in how their teaching and curricular decisions impact students and make continual strides to enhance the learning experience accordingly. Now nearing the end of my undergraduate journey, I find myself with a more complete understanding of what it takes to be an effective communicator and impactful citizen within both my community and the workplace.

Where would you like to work after graduation? Following graduation, I will join Morgan Stanley in their New York Investment Banking division in the Mergers & Acquisitions group.

What are your long-term professional goals? I would like to eventually get my MBA because I believe that it adds a lot of value that extends beyond that of an undergraduate business education, especially in terms of acquiring the necessary management skills to be successful. Beyond that, I would love to work in the business development or strategy division of a Fortune 500 company and then eventually finish my career in the public sector.    

“I knew I wanted to major in business when…I visited Georgetown and the McDonough School of Business my junior year and sat in on Professor Skuba’s International Business class. Seeing finance as the breeding grounds for a discussion on the interrelatedness of cultural globalization and the macro-based economy, as well as the impact one could have with the proper business acumen, I knew then and there that this was a field that I wanted to pursue.”        

“If I didn’t major in business, I would be…far less prepared with the requisite skills to be successful in the real world after graduation.”

What was the happiest moment of your life? As cliché as this may sound, getting my acceptance letter to Georgetown University on April 1, 2012. So much of the focus in junior and senior year of high school is geared toward making that last push to get into a great university, so seeing that acceptance letter with my name on it was both a relief that I could begin fully enjoying my senior year as well as a surge of excitement because I knew I was going to get to spend at least four years in such a vibrant and energetic city like Washington D.C. and a tremendous university in Georgetown.

Which academic or personal achievement are you most proud of? One of my proudest academic achievements at Georgetown was winning the Credit Suisse Case Competition during my junior year with two of my closest friends. It was a pretty rigorous competition that required heavy application of the finance and valuation concepts that we had learned in class to a real world situation in acting as an advisory firm to a client corporation. The compressed timeline for the contest, as well as the high quality of competition, made it very challenging yet extremely rewarding in the end. By working closely together for countless hours, we were pushed to the limit but came out of the experience with a heightened understanding of the value a business degree holds in the sense of providing us with the insight and tools to make strategic and financial decisions that can carry important consequences.

What animal would you choose to represent your professional brand? Either a Golden Retriever or a St. Bernard because they are loyal and reliable while always carrying a welcoming and hospitable demeanor.  

Who would you most want to thank for your success? There are so many individuals who have been central to my success, from all of my mentors to my parents who have supported me every step of the way, that a simple paragraph could not do them all justice. However, one individual stands apart from the rest: My grandfather. While distance always separated us (he lived in India), his influence on my work ethic and personality never wavered. He taught me the importance of never taking anything for granted and maximizing one’s full potential. My grandfather also was a firm believer in the importance of education and life-long learning, which was instrumental in instilling in me a deep intellectual curiosity. He has always been my role model – the perfect combination of intelligence, character, and ambition – and I hope that I can one day have the same impact on someone else that he has had on me.

Fun fact about yourself: I was originally born in India and moved seven times all over the United States in the first 11 years of my life.

Favorite book: Freakonomics and anything written by Michael Lewis

Favorite movie: Bourne Series

Favorite musical performer: Red Hot Chili Peppers

Favorite vacation spot: The Bahamas

What are your hobbies? Playing tennis, ultimate frisbee, and basketball. Also enjoy reading and traveling whenever I get the opportunity.

What made Vaibhav such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2016?

“Vaibhav Agarwal is majoring in finance and accounting with minors in French and economics. He is very personable and involved in a number of activities on campus, including Georgetown University Student Investment Fund (GUSIF) and Hilltop Consultants which advises non-profits, such as the American Red Cross and United Way. Vaibhav will make his mark on society as a compassionate and global-minded leader, focused on the triple bottom line- people, planet, and profit.”

Patricia Grant
Associate Dean, Undergraduate Program
Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

 

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